1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus provided with an exposure member, such as an LED head, which has a plurality of blinking sections (intermittent light-emitting sections), and to an image forming apparatus provided with the exposure apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. 3153103B2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H8-318661, published Dec. 3, 1996) includes a photoconductive drum (photosensitive drum), an LED head which has a plurality of pieces of LED which expose the photoconductive drum, and an upper cover which supports the LED head and which is rockable upward and downward with respect to the body of the image forming apparatus while the cover supports the LED head. Specifically, in this technique, the LED head is engaged with the upper cover such that both left and right ends of the LED head are engaged with elongated holes, formed in flange portions of the upper cover at both left and right ends of the upper cover, respectively; and a coil spring is provided between the upper cover and the LED head to bias the LED head in a direction in which the LED head is away from the upper cover.
According to this technique, when the upper cover is closed, a projection which is formed on the lower surface of the LED head, pressed by the coil spring, enters into a cylindrical positional hole having a bottom surface and formed in a cartridge supporting the photoconductive drum, thereby positioning the LED head with respect to the body of the image forming apparatus. On the other hand, when the upper cover is opened, the LED head is pressed by the coil spring against the flange portions of the upper cover.
In this conventional technique, however, there is a fear that when the upper cover is opened, the LED head pressed by the coil spring might be warped with the flange portions as the center of warpage, and thus the LED head might be deformed.